Feng Shui Flying Star application....

Could you share your understanding in pairing up the following & list the pairs in order of most importance/power for interpreting the flying star configurations:

mountain star, water star, time/earth/construction star, year/annual star, monthly star, house trigram, personal trigram, etc.

Answer: Howdy,

Go to my links page (part of my Freebies section), and join either of the Feng Shui e-mail lists, they are the perfect forum for just your type of questions. Well worth the time and effort.

In regard of wealth, compare the mountain star to the water star. Is it enhancing it, against it, weakening it, etc...? Still thinking about wealth, what is the (you call) time/earth/construction star doing to it during this 20 year period and also look at the next period. Check the Yearly stars to see if they may trigger anything. Don't worry about monthly stars too much, their effect is normally too weak to concern yourself with.

Do the same things, but this time for the mountain stars in regard of health and relationships.

Check the pathways into the premises, what is being brought in at the facing and sitting sides, also at the doorways, simply use the entry way that has the most positive water star located there. Look at what energies are being carried through your premises are they positive or negative? Use an appropriate pathway.

Check what energies are being brought into each room, by shrinking the chart down and placing it centred over each room so as to see the water stars at the door ways.

Check the front door/main entry door influence, by centring your chart over the doorway and seeing what water stars are being brought there from outside (along the path or driveway) and check how they work together (for, against, etc...)

This is really all a beginner needs to do when looking at the Flying Stars. Make sure to look at the forms (surroundings) outside, do they support the stars?

Hope this helps you. Let me know.

Its all good, John Mausolf.
Pure Feng Shui Freebies
http://www.purefengshui.com

Could you share your understanding in pairing up the following & list the pairs in order of most importance/power for interpreting the flying star configurations:

mountain star, water star, time/earth/construction star, year/annual star, monthly star, house trigram, personal trigram, etc.

Answer: Howdy,

Go to my links page (part of my Freebies section), and join either of the Feng Shui e-mail lists, they are the perfect forum for just your type of questions. Well worth the time and effort.

In regard of wealth, compare the mountain star to the water star. Is it enhancing it, against it, weakening it, etc...? Still thinking about wealth, what is the (you call) time/earth/construction star doing to it during this 20 year period and also look at the next period. Check the Yearly stars to see if they may trigger anything. Don't worry about monthly stars too much, their effect is normally too weak to concern yourself with.

Do the same things, but this time for the mountain stars in regard of health and relationships.

Check the pathways into the premises, what is being brought in at the facing and sitting sides, also at the doorways, simply use the entry way that has the most positive water star located there. Look at what energies are being carried through your premises are they positive or negative? Use an appropriate pathway.

Check what energies are being brought into each room, by shrinking the chart down and placing it centred over each room so as to see the water stars at the door ways.

Check the front door/main entry door influence, by centring your chart over the doorway and seeing what water stars are being brought there from outside (along the path or driveway) and check how they work together (for, against, etc...)

This is really all a beginner needs to do when looking at the Flying Stars. Make sure to look at the forms (surroundings) outside, do they support the stars?

Hope this helps you. Let me know.

John has studied with many Masters of Feng Shui since 1997, and now chooses to give away his knowledge through his numerous free articles and courses at his site. http://www.purefengshui.com

Feng Shui --the Myth And The Marvel

It is possibly the most ancient design movement known and yet has made itself an avant-garde design craze. Although, over three thousand years old, the idea of Feng Shui has received much attention in modern day. Surf the net or the local bookstores and you will find numerous resources on the subject. It has taken the Interior Design industry by storm and has found a way into university classrooms all over the world. It has been revered as an art. It has been shunned as superstition. It is controversial, which means it is interesting. So let's take a brief look, shall we?

Feng Shui ("wind-water") is an ancient Chinese practice dealing with the arrangement of a space and its elements to bring balance to the environment and those who dwell within, more basically, living in harmony with your surroundings.

This ancient philosophy says that being in tune with the elements and energy around you will bring you the most balance in life. These elements are Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. The energy is Ch'i (pronounced 'chee').

Ch'i is the life force, and it is present all around us, all of the time. The purpose of incorporating Feng Shui into our homes is to attract Ch'i and to raise positive energy levels. The Chinese have utilized this in the construction of large buildings and homes, aligning the corners of the structures with the corresponding directions of the four cardinal directions--north, south, east, and west. The ancient Chinese tended to build their homes according to the directions and meaning of each.

Astrology is incorporated as well. Depending on the individual?s year of birth, each direction has different meaning. Those dealt with include positive directions (prime, health, longevity, prosperity, etc.) and negative directions (death, disaster, the six shar, and the five ghosts). According to Chinese life principle, there is no getting around the negative directions. Though, it is believed that utilizing Feng Shui in your home can keep the Ch'i in balance, and the positive and negative in harmony.

In this day and age, not many of us have the option of choosing our land so freely, as we have settled down already or dwell in apartment buildings. Unfortunately, we can't very well pick up and turn our homes to suit our individual Ch'i. This is where Feng Shui designers have found their calling. Placement of furniture, certain deco, as well as color use are considered imperative factors in the Feng Shui culture. Here are a few interesting and random examples.

Furniture Placement:

- Move the bed to face your health and longevity direction.
- Always have a bed against one wall, as this gives the individual stability.
- The oven and the sink should have space between them, as they represent opposing elements; water and fire.
- The living room is the central gathering room and where most families spend their time. Try to put the main area of focus (television, sound system) in the corner that represents health. This way, when the family lounges together, they are facing a positive direction.
- The Chinese believed that no matter how big the family, there should always be at least eight chairs at the dining table. If more or less, the number must always be even.
- Face the desk that you work at towards your creative direction.

Decorations and Accessories:

- If one of your positive directions lie in the South, and there is a Southern wall with no window in your home, add a mirror. This gives Ch'i room to flow with no ending point.
- The bathroom of your home is the place for Ch'i to pool--and in its most negative environment. Bathrooms are typically small, and are associated with destruction. Mirrors, and house plants should be abundant in this area.
- The living room or bedroom are good places for oil paintings and art, as these are objects of prosperity.
- The study, or the area where you do so, should be filled with objects of creativity. Fill the area with artwork, pottery, and house plants. If there is no window above your desk, guess? Add a mirror!
- Round objects represent money. So, in the living room, and study, try round rugs, tables, and coasters.
- Wind chimes, wind chimes, wind chimes! Anything associated with wind will help Ch'i flow freely.

Color:

The central colors of importance to Feng Shui include green, red, yellow, white, and black. Although the meaning and directional significance of each differs depending on your source, each color represents one of the five elements (Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, Wood).
- It is important that the color of your bedroom correlate with your element. Mine is water, which seems to be associated with white or blue.
- The kitchen is the one place in the house most susceptible to hazard. Green is the safest color to use here.
- The study is an important area for free air, and open mindedness. Yellow or white will keep the area amicable.

For more information on color use, check out the Quick Guide to Color Effects and Meanings blog.

Whether or not you take the ancient art of Feng Shui on board, it is quite an impressive subject as well as vastly immense--I have only just touched the bare minimum here. Aside from the apparent mysticism, its principles touch upon the chic mannerism of modern design as well. More and more designers and clients are designing with meaning and with spirituality. In my opinion, this is wonderful!

Every type of art has spiritual root and meaning--it's the artist that makes it distinct. As always, my best design advice is to understand what touches you and manifest it into your space. Peace be with you and may your Ch'i flow free!

Breiana Cecil of OverstockArt.com graduated from Ball State University with a Bachelor Degree in Interior Design and in Studio Art. Breiana is an avid enthusiast of the art and design world and intends on continuing her contribution to the industry. Talk to Breiana on the ArtCorner Blog today!

A Brief History of Feng Shui

Feng Shui (pronounced as "fung schway") literally translated means "wind and water." It is an ancient Chinese art and science of placement and arranging objects and space within the environment so as to achieve harmony and balance. The object is promote and nurture the flow of good Chi (pronounced "chee",) which is a Chinese word similar to "energy" in English.

Feng Shui is not simply a decorating style. In fact, it is a discipline with rules and guidelines that can be adapted to fit with many different decorating styles. Truly it is a belief system which combines many different religious, geographical, astrological, mathematical, and philosophical ideas, as well as aesthetic values.

The origins of the term Feng Shui have been said to come from the Jin Dynasty (265-420.) In the Burial Book written by Guo Pu, Chi rides the wind and stops at the boundary created by the water. Ancient Chinese believed in manipulating the Chi so that it was directed with purpose and not wasted. Since this art and science was based on the wind and water, the term Feng Shui was born.

Today, it is a widely held belief that all Feng Shui books were burned during the Qin dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC.) One of the most authoritative works on the subject was written by Huang Shi Gong and given to Zhang Liang during the latter part of the Qin dynasty. Later, in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907,) Yang Yun Song and his disciples wrote several books on the subject. Those particular works are the most authoritative work used by all Feng Shui schools. Unfortunately, the books were very cryptic and used knowledge largely passed down through the oral tradition.

Feng Shui is also believed to be intuitive and derivable from our own common sense and our sense of what is natural in our environment. Eitel, a German Missionary in China in the latter half of the 19th century, wrote in his work, Feng-Shui, Or, The Rudiments Of Natural Science In China(1873), that the origin of Feng Shui is a belief system that is unique to the writings of Chu His and other writers from the Song dynasty (1126-1278.) Chu His is more well known for influencing Confucianism, and while his writings and commentaries may have become the foundation for Feng Shui, Feng Shui's roots truly go back as far as original Chinese Philosophy.

By the mid 19th century, Feng Shui had become such a part of life that the Chinese government published all the materials necessary for use in the practice of Feng Shui. In fact, as English speaking settlers came to China in the mid 19th century, they had a difficult time adapting to the way of Feng Shui. Much like modern day contractors have to conform to building codes and other community rules and regulations, the English settlers had difficulties in construction and renovation because their design ideas did not conform to the Feng Shui principles, and were therefore rejected.

Further early introduction of Feng Shui to westerners did not go well either. When foreigners wanted to purchase land, and those foreigners were not welcome, they would be directed to land that did not lend itself to good Feng Shui. Early western writings on the subject of Feng Shui were equally as unkind. In 1885, one author wrote that "if any one wishes to see what a howling wilderness of erratic dogmatism the human mind can arrive, when speculation usurps the place of science, and theories are reverenced equally with facts, let him endeavour to fathom even the elementary principles of that abyss of insane vagaries, the science of Feng-Shui."

Over the last few decades, many English books have been published on the topic of Feng Shui. They usually focus on interior design, decorating, architecture, or landscape design. Reception from English audiences has often been skeptical, particularly towards the use of crystals, wind chimes, fountains, and mirrored balls. Claims that Feng Shui can improve one's life, finances, and relationships are dismissed by some as mythology and new age mysticism. Still, others in the west have adapted Feng Shui to their own lives and report overwhelming positive benefits.

Charles Chang is a Feng Shui enthusiast and author. He enjoys helping others with feng shui tips through his articles and website.

Feng Shui And Home Staging

Staging your home in preparation for its sale is a very important factor you have to consider. It?s an effective way of attracting more buyers and speeding up your home sale. Just like marketing any product which entails good packaging, presenting a comfortable and organized home is always a plus.

In staging your home, you may want to incorporate some feng shui practices to increase your home?s value and attractiveness to buyers. It does not matter if you believe in this ancient Chinese practice. The important thing to remember is that feng shui just might contribute in the fast sale of your home and in selling it at a higher price.

The first thing you will have to focus on is to engage the senses of your prospective buyers in as many ways you can think of. A home that has lots of horizontal space will surely engage the sense of sight. So be sure to clear your kitchen counter tops, dressers and shelves. Keep in mind that most buyers go for a spacious home and not a crowded one. To engage the sense of smell, cinnamon or pine scents are highly recommended over the vanilla or floral scents. And to engage the sense of sound, a gentle or soothing music playing or the sound of a fountain during a buyer?s visit will be well appreciated.

First impression in home selling is vital for potential buyers. Make sure then that from your driveway and front yard up to the different rooms in your home, everything is pleasing to the eyes and provides a comfortable homey feeling. Feng shui should come into play in this aspect. The front door of your home should be clean and well-lit if a buyer is visiting after dark. A nice doormat should be in place and fresh flowers or plants should be on both sides of the entrance.

As early as possible, you should get your own personal stuff out of the house. This is to bring more positive and moving energy into the house. Take away all clutter from your front yard to the different parts of your home. Clutter is negative chi that can keep your energy down and might be passed on to your potential buyer if not thrown away. Clutter may take the form of dirt and dust as well as old and unused things like magazines, accessories and old clothes.

The kitchen should promote a friendly, healthy and prosperous atmosphere. Most buyers consider this room as the important part of the house. Better make yours sparkling clean and organized including your pantry. Be sure that your wastebaskets are out of sight, too.

As for the bathroom, always keep its door shut and the toilet lid down. Remember that potential buyers should never see a bathroom unless they actually go see it for themselves. These two powerful feng shui tips are meant to create positive energy into your home.

In home staging, presentation is key and with the application of feng shui guidelines, there?s a good chance that your home will draw buyers easily.

This article is brought to you by FengShuiDecoratingTips.com. Get free information and Feng Shui Decorating Tips. Learn how to enhance your love life, gain wealth, and happiness with Feng Shui Secrets.

Feng shui dont's

There are some things which you should always try to avoid doing when looking for a feng shui balanced environment since they could be disastrous to such purpose. We intend to help you achieving a proper feng shui balance by detailing some of the most important feng shui donts through the next lines.

First of all, you should avoid living or working in an environment containing too much yin energy. Among the places which contain more yin energy we can find cemeteries, hospitals and churches. Also, you should avoid attracting to much yin into your space by opening the windows and doors regularly and allowing sun light enter.

You should also avoid living in a house that is much bigger or smaller than the neighboring ones. This could bring you misunderstandings and problems with your neighbors. Your house should never be placed facing the end of a road, or hallway in case of an office. Your house or offices entrance door should be clear and free of obstacles; there shouldnt be trees or any structure right in front of it.

You should never place furniture in such a way that there is not much space between them; there should always be space for chi to flow within any space. Besides, you should always avoid placing beds, chairs, sofas or desks right across main doors or with the back towards them. You and your guests should never be with your back right across the entrance door.

It is also important that you don't place too much of an element in the wrong area. If, according to the bagua map, a house area should contain water or metal to be in balance, you should avoid placing to much fire, earth or wood in them. It is also important to avoid dark corners; if you find a dark corner within your house or office, you should make it clearer by illuminating it or by placing a plant at it. Dark places and spots always attract yin energy and obstruct chi from flowing freely and properly, therefore you should always attract light and yang energy to every corner of your house and office.

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.fengshuicrazy.comPlease visit his website and learn all the feng shui tips you'll ever need!